What Ray Tanner said about Mark Kingston, South Carolina baseball program

It’s been a frustrating year for the South Carolina baseball program.

The Gamecocks finished below .500 for the first time since 1996 this year and enter the offseason with plenty of room for improvement heading into 2023.

The decision was made, first reported by D1Baseball’s Kendall Rogers, that head coach Mark Kingston would return for his sixth year and fifth full season with the Gamecocks.

Monday, South Carolina athletics director Ray Tanner went on 107.5 FM. HE discussed a litany of topics, including the Gamecocks’ baseball program and Kingston.

On the decision to bring Mark Kingston back for 2023:

“We probably could talk about it for a long time. Our team went through some ups and downs. We won a series against ole miss, we won a series against Vandy, we won a series against Texas. We had our rash of injuries. All teams do. But at the end of the day, you go where are we? What’s the bottom line? Did we survive and get into the postseason? We didn’t. Did we miss it by a long shot? We really didn’t. I think Ole miss had a one-game lead on us in the SEC standings…There’s a very thin line between whether you’re a team that gets to play at the end of the year or a team that doesn’t.

“It’s disappointing. Our expectations are to be in the postseason, regardless of the sport. It’s not easy. We have 21 sports here. We did very, very well. At the end of the year, I think we had seven women’s teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season and only one on the men’s side. That gets to be somewhat disappointing. We have had some success.

“You go back to baseball and we really weren’t that far away. Everybody has injuries. I do a year-end evaluation with all the coaches. You may talk about it but that’s not part of the evaluation. The teams you play have injuries. Ole miss won a national championship and their No. 1 pitcher was out for the whole year. Mississippi State had their No. 1 out and they finished dead last. You look at things like that but you don’t consider it.

“I will say with our circumstance this year, it was somewhat abnormal. We had so many guys out. I think at one point we had 10 scholarship guys out and was trying to get through a week with four to five pitchers with midweek games. It was very difficult to do. I did take that certainly into consideration. I think if we had a Bosnic, a Mahoney, a Phipps, a Hicks who started the year with us. If you had any of those guys you might win four or five more games. Would it have made a difference? Probably so. It might have gotten us in. Then you look at things a little differently whether you’re playing or not playing.

“We had a pretty good first part of the lineup, first four or five hitters. Then it dropped off, so we didn’t hit well as a team. It was a lot of different factors. I didn’t think it was an awful team by any stretch of the imagination. We showed signs we were going to get through this thing. At the end of the day, we missed the postseason.

“Coach Kingston is very active in the portal. Texas A&M was very active in the portal in coach Schlossnagle’s first year. They had a bunch of older guys. Notre Dame was tremendously old…the landscape is so different than years ago. In a short period of time it’s flipped….Hopefully, we’ll be in a situation next year where coach Kingston’s guys will bounce back and we’ll get to play at the end of the year. ideally, we get to play at home.”

On what he wants to see improve at South Carolina outside of injuries:

“I think ideally you’re somewhat more offensive. I thought the first part of the lineup was really good. Maybe as good as anybody else’s in the conference the first four or five hitters we had. Sightler came on from the midway point. He was a force to be reckoned with. Eyster had a great year. We got good play from Braswell as a true freshman. A lot of good things happened. I think you have to be a little bit more complete.

“Watching Ole Miss finish off Oklahoma yesterday, they had some pop and guys that could produce at the bottom of the lineup. That’s what a lot of guys strive to do. When you get down to it, you have to have enough arms. Great teams would have seven or eight guys. But you have to have 10 or 11 guys you can pitch on a regular basis. We were short in that capacity due to injury. We’re trying to get through a week with four or five guys. That makes it really, really hard to do.

“It took a toll on us. It really did. I’m not making excuses. I’m talking about reality. Whatever the sport may be, injuries are a small part of the conversation because everyone has them. But with our team this year in baseball it was excessive.”

More on the South Carolina program:

“We have a tremendous environment to play in. I know our attendance wasn’t great. Our season ticket base is still pretty strong. But they want to come out and watch a team be able to win a series on the weekend and be very successful, talk about the postseason and potentially hosting at home. Those are factors you certainly want to be a part of and take a look at as we move forward. That’s a special environment and it has been here for a long time…That’s what the expectations are. And they may be higher for our baseball program compared to other sports. Just based on the history and tradition.

“What coach (Shane) Beamer has brought in such a short period of time, we weren’t in the CFP but we won seven games when all the prognosticators had us winning maybe three. Some good things happened. We finished the year strong and recruiting’s been great. The culture, the atmosphere, the fan base, and the passion for the program is in a good place. Hopefully, we’ll have a good fall in football. That’s what we do.

“We have 21 sports here and you want to win. I’m not unrealistic. I competed. I was an athlete. Maybe not a top-level athlete but I played. Then being in coaching and being in administration, you want to be successful. That’s something that drives you….

“We play in a conference where not everybody finishes first. It’s part of what we do. But it gives us the opportunity to be successful. Sometimes it does get frustrating. It’s just like Ole Miss. They survived. They worried until their names got called in the field of 64. There was anxiety….

On his message to South Carolina’s disgruntled fans:

“I think my message right now is hang with us. We’re in a position where I feel like we can get in a position to turn it and it doesn’t take five years to turn it. We talked about the portal. There’s a pretty good nucleus from where I sit and in talking with coach Kingston. I think you can turn it real quick.

“Back in the day, I remember there were times our fans weren’t all that pleased with maybe how we were playing and what we’re doing. In a baseball environment, you can hear a little bit. When you’re in the dugout you can hear it. But the message to the players is that’s a compliment. The expectations are compliments. Maybe the delivery is not what you want.

“But our fan base and supporters want to see you do well. They’re frustrated when you don’t. So are we. So are the players. I think all those things are good. But you want to get it turned and get it turned quickly.”

On the message to Mark Kingston about baseline expectations next year at South Carolina:

“We had our end of the year meeting and talked about those things. We’re in a position where hosting is a possibility. But it’s not automatic if you get in…Ideally, you’d like to be in that group. We talk about those kinds of things. We want to be one of those teams, there’s no doubt about it.”